


Warmth Found In A Whitestone Winter

by cjg



Series: Bed. A Place Of Rest [9]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Naked Cuddling, Sleepy Cuddles, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 05:39:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15679104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjg/pseuds/cjg
Summary: The one where Whitestone is frost covered and finding warmth with the person you love is the most pleasant part of the season.OrThe one where a present, a pile of blankets, and body heat is just what they both need at the end of the night.





	Warmth Found In A Whitestone Winter

After trudging up two flights of stairs, he realizes how tired he is.

Trinket had run past him on the way out of the basement and is currently at the bedroom door doing his best to wait for him to get there patiently.

Opening the door, he’s greeted by a lit fireplace and their bed which has a lump on his side that could only be Vex under what must be all the thickest blankets they have in the house.

Poor dear.

Unfortunately, Whitestone is in the middle of the worst winter since he was a child and Vex is not fairing it well.

The overnight patrol shifts have taken their toll on her, but she insists that she can't ask others to do a patrol if their leader won't take a turn doing the same hours herself.

It doesn’t diminish the fact that most of the last week he has woken up in the morning to a frozen and shivering Vex’ahlia next to him. This is the first night she's not had to work, and she went to bed early, just as the sun set.

Knowing she would find the gift he'd bought to fix her frozen problem the moment she slipped under the covers he kept working, just a few hours more in the workshop. Letting her have some hopefully restful and uninterrupted sleep while he kept Trinket in the warmth of the forge.

Trinket settles down immediately in his own nest of blankets and pillows in front of the fire, while he changes into his usual long johns as quickly as possible. When he's finished, he walks around the bed to his side and slowly pulls back the topmost blankets to reveal Vex, cocooned inside her present.

He watches her body slowly rise and fall with each breath until he can't stay so far away any longer.

Brushing his fingers along her cheek, she stirs. “Hello dear, I see you found your present,” keeping his voice light as she wakes.

Her eyes flicker open, and a smile appears on her lips as she wakes up just enough to make sense of what he said. 

Looking closer at the blanket pile she’s created, it seems that she has four thick blankets on top of the sheets and under all that she has herself wrapped in the blanket he'd hidden as he remade the bed earlier today. The new blanket is the softest he could find, the tan of it a few shades lighter than her skin. 

"May I join you in there?" he asks as politely as possible. He had meant for this blanket to be used by her alone but the ball of warmth she's made for herself could be expanded to fit another quite easily.

He loves the look on her face as she pretends to need time to think about his request. Part contemplative and part playful, when she frees an arm, he can guess where this is going. “You have to pay the toll." There's laughter in her voice as she reaches to pull him in.

Leaning closer so she can grab him, with a fist full of his shirt she pulls herself up while at the same time bringing him down. 

Their lips meet, and the kiss is sweet and unhurried with a heat that melts any lingering chill out of his bones, he hopes it does the same for her. It’s the best sort of kiss on this frozen night.

When they part, she lets him go but does a good look at him up and down, the grin reemerging on her lips. “There is a dress code too, and currently you're breaking it," unmistakably speaking of his currently clothed state.

Laughing himself, he asks to be sure, “Just the shirt or..."

She cuts him off before he can finish the thought, “All of it.” It’s funny she almost sounded impatient just then.

There is unconcealed enjoyment and delight in her expression as both halves of his long johns are taken off; it's so endearing.

“Skin deserves to feel this blanket Percy, it’s the softest, better than furs,” her enthusiasm is catching, but truthfully he had wondered what this blanket would feel like against skin that wasn’t his hands and face.

He takes off his glasses as he nears the bed, placing them on the nightstand while she unwraps herself partially from the blanket and lifts the rest so he can slip into the warmth underneath.

“You’re sure all the blankets will keep us warm enough?” he teases as he does his best to join her in the new blanket, wrapping them up, he lays down, for at least this moment, on top of her, his head resting between her breasts. 

“Darling, you know how body heat works,” she laughs while placing her hands on his back. One finger, then two of one hand gently begin mapping out patterns over his shoulders.

He nods against her, a lazy kiss to the skin his lips can reach.

She uses her other hand to wrap them up better, moving the blanket enough to feel how soft it is against their skin.

Kissing her breast again, he smiles into her skin. “I knew how pleased you would be when I found this blanket in the market this morning.” Her other hand makes its way up and into his hair at that, brushing lightly through it, he savors this feeling for a while. 

"Do you think it will help?” he asks taking his own arms up to hold onto her elbows making his concern for her as evident as possible. She stills at that moment, her hands pausing their calming touches.

Turning them, so their sides rest together on the mattress, she holds him tightly and nods before saying, “Thank you for realizing,” so softly he almost doesn’t catch it. 

He can barely see her face as he looks up, the fire allowing him some little glance at her features. Shaking his head he moves upward towards her face so he can look into her eyes, “I couldn’t have you shivering, and I knew I would never be able to get you into practical sleeping clothes no matter the weather or how hard I tried.” 

He can feel the laughter in her before it reaches her lips, capturing the sound with a kiss as it emits from her, she holds on to him tighter. 

“Wise man, picking your battles,” she muses as they part, before pressing a kiss to his forehead. 

Laying his head down against her shoulder, “Wake me up next time, wake me up every time, I hear body heat does wonders,” he kisses her pulse. He can feel her nod as a hand returns to its slow motions in his hair.

A loud bear snore sounds from somewhere beyond their feet. He can’t hold the laughter in, neither can she. 

“You love it though I think, sleeping naked with me,” she says knowingly after a few minutes of just laying next to each other, his nose in her hair. He can hear the love in her voice.

It takes him a moment to get the words together, the draw of sleep slipping through his mind. Shifting to see her again he nods, “I do love your skin,” as he kisses her on the nose and then her cheek, breathing her in, “skin is good."

“Yes, skin is good,” the amusement is clear in her voice as she runs a hand down his back. He made her laugh; his words were worth laughing at. He’s not fully awake right now.

“How did it all go today?” she asks tentatively. Of course, she’d known today would be the day he found out if it would work or not.

“Disaster, I'm going to have to redesign the mechanism," even before today he had an idea that it wouldn't work with this prototype.

“I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about it?" Oh how her concern makes his heart feel full and while he would like to tell her everything he’s at this moment too tired to speak of it, he can tell that she is as well.

“Today is over. I'm going to try not to think about it until after breakfast." He kisses her again in thanks. She is so wonderful.

“I'll be home tomorrow if you want help or someone to bounce ideas off of," she says into his hair as they roll over again. This time into a more comfortable position to sleep in.

"I'd appreciate that. Thank you,” it's mumbled into her skin, but he knows that she heard it. Her hand comes up between them to slowly caress his face.

“Anytime,” she says it almost as an afterthought as she stretches her legs, her feet nestling between his, looking for the additional warmth.

From there her hand reaches up to pull the topmost blanket over their heads, enough to block out the firelight.

With that, there’s a feeling that washes over them, this moment of words is over. 

Time to sleep.

Their bodies relax into each other then, legs meeting and folding into comfortable positions, muscles letting go of the day’s pressure. 

All walls and fronts they use in the world having been taken down at their front door, what's left is just them being truly themselves together. 

The world and its expectations do not exist in this space; they don’t allow it to. 

The only thing that is real is the two of them and the snoring bear in front of the fire.

**Author's Note:**

> So I bought a new blanket on Wednesday, that's what caused this.
> 
> Comments and Kudos greatly appreciated.


End file.
